Sustainability has been part of the DNA of the project to create venues, facilities and infrastructure for the Games that leave a lasting social, economic and environmental legacy for London and the UK. In addition, the ODA tried to minimise any adverse impacts during the design and construction of the Olympic Park.

The ODA relocated species, including birds, bats and lizards, reused demolished materials, cleaned over a million cubic metres of soil and ensured state-of-the-art, sustainable technologies were embedded in venues.

The ODA established a new energy infrastructure to reduce carbon emissions, optimised the opportunities for efficient water use and created more than 100 hectares of open space, which were designed to reduce the risk of flooding in the river valley and enrich the biodiversity of the area.

To achieve its sustainability goals, the ODA set itself and its contractors working on the Park a comprehensive range of targets that were embedded in systems, processes, tools and the culture of the project. Key achievements included:

63 per cent (by weight) of construction materials were transported to the Olympic

Park by rail or water.

98 per cent of material from Olympic Park demolition work was reclaimed for reuse

and recycling.

More than 650 bird and bat boxes were installed across the Olympic Park,

including within bridge structures and on the ‘brown roof’ of the Main Press Centre.